The 2nd King.

Okay so in my devo time as of lately I have been in 2 Kings and Matthew.

Let me tell you,
I tend to get way more out of my New Testament reading than I do my Old.

BUT.... not this time!

Starting in Chapter 18 Hezekiah became king of Israel.

Up until now the majority of kings would do what we call 

"EVERYTHING that is WRONG with being the King of God's people"

or not in GCSV (Ginny Catlin Sallaway Version)

"He did what was evil in the LORD'S sight..."

This was NOT Hezekiah!

He was 25 when He came into "office" and ruled for 29 years

(side note: this is all stuff said in the 1st couple verses don't think I'm ubber scholarly or something lol)

FIRST POINT: 25 freakin years old! That's five years away from now for me!

I have been thinking a lot this summer about my future, something 

I had never really THOUGHT about till now cause I have had a "full proof" plan since I was

SEVEN.

That plan has been crushed and blown away in the wind.

My future is affected by the decisions I make now as a young 20 year old.

That doesn't just mean the major I pick for school or my summer and year long jobs,

it also means the everyday choices! (pretty obvious but not comprehensive till now)

Like if I am going to sit and spend an hour total on facebook each day, working out, who I affiliate myself with, and the thoughts I have/day dreaming.

These all build habits and make me into the woman I will be! 

Okay on with 2 Kings!

SECOND  POINT: He was a man!

When war came knocking on His doorstep He fought but not in the way most would.

He was willing to go out and kick some butt with His physical strength but instead 

He fell to His knees.

I don't know very many men or women, for that reason, to get on there knees when things get rough.

They try to fix it.

He takes the physical letter that He got from His enemy lays it open in the temple, 

gets the Priests, Elders, and Court Secretary to pray and come together as a

PRAYER ARMY.

When He laid it out He prayed and He prayed HARD.

A REAL MAN.

God uses a Isaiah to speak to Him about how He will take care of things in so many words : )

Then that night 185,000 Assyrian's were struck down. The dead bodies where found in the morning and Hezekiah's enemy ran back home later to be killed by His own sons!

Truth got rid of Evil.

Unfortunately Hezekiah's legacy did not live on and that is my 

THIRD POINT: Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, was 12 when He became King. 

He did what I said earlier:

"EVERYTHING that is WRONG with being the King of God's people"

He looked to false prophets (something that my generation has a problem with, I think.), worshiping false gods (again another problem a little more obvious), sacrificing His children through fire, and all that "great" stuff.

The point is that we always have a weak point:

We may be great at prayer and being a warrior but not a great teacher of those

ways of living to the generation coming behind us.

We may be...you fill in the blank we are all different!

God will ALWAYS be working on us in every moment of our life.

Someone said a couple months ago in our Bible Study up in Flag that we need to pray that God

would open our eyes to things around us.

I started to do that

and He has faithfully answered and keeps answering when I keep asking.

He will open your eyes and show you how to fix what you need to 

fix and He will help you do it.

The next post I have is of a song by one of my favorite bands Addison Road.

It's not the official video but they don't have an official yet so 

don't be snobby and watch it 

and listen to the words.

:)
PRAY BOLDLY.

2 Kings video post

Pictures Pictures Pictures!!!

Hey Ya'll!
I don't know if you know this but I have a camera and with it I take pictures! : D 

You have seen my work on here (or possibly on my FB page)

But I wanted you all to know I am for hire!

From portraits of yourself, family, couples, babies, to pets!

I'm your Gal and would love to be apart of capturing a part of your life!

I am Very flexible over this summer so just give me a call, text, email, or even pigeon mail!

Prices:

1 hour - $50

2 hours - $75

Edited photos  -  5 free

5 extra - $15

Below are some sessions in my Portfolio:

Haley- Senior Pictures

Grandma & Granddaughter- Portraits

Michelle- The Academy Newsletter

Barry&Felicia- Together for 2 years

John & Hannah- Just to have : )

David & Dayna- Just to have : )

Kelly Sallaway- Business Pictures

Dayna Sallaway- Portrait

Dog Portrait

My God.

So I am once again going to be vulnerable and transparent with you who read this.

(I believe we are all called to do that read James 5:13-20)

Those of you that live around me may know that recently I have been challenged with the concept of 

Sabbath.

This is not just a day of rest but a day spent with and around

God.

Not family, friends, or homework.

Yes I think you can do your sabbath around your family and friends but if that's what the day is about that is incorrect.

I have been spending my weeks looking forward to my 

Sabbath,

since I have changed my view on this Holy Day.

I try and go out in the wilderness as much as possible it's at least once a week if not three times.

I think I have gotten the best time with God out in the

WILD. 

During my time with God yesterday I sat on the hood of my Jeep on top of a hill back where no one was. 

In amazement I just started to realize how just 

AMAZING

my King is.

(Amazing- filled with astonishment.)

This is what I came to semi-understand and hopefully never fully grasp so 

God's 

Amazing-ness never fades away.

No matter how much I explore these woods,

There are still parts of  it I will not know.

From Dirt to Snow,

Water to Trees,

Mountains to Valleys,

Open Fields to Rocky Hills,

Green Pines to Blue Skies & White Fluffy Clouds,

Fallen Timbers to Thick Patches of Saplings,

Cold of the Night to Heat of the Day,

Swarms of Mosquitoes to Butterfly dusted Poppies,

Ducks to Deers

Flower filled Hills to Barin Lands

Dirty Back Roads of Mud & Clay to Green Pastures

Elk to Cougars.

Little Streams of Melted Snow to Lakes.

I will never understand You or know every area of You, no matter how often and far I explore. 

There is always more to discover.

God let me never stop seeking adventure in the world You created and in Who You are.

There is a cabin in this photo, I kinda wanna live there.

 

This is where I sat watching the clouds shadows move across the forest and got an awesome time on the top of the Jeep : ) 

 

 

I LOVE the fact that I will never fully comprehend God and understand the reasons for the things He does but it makes Life so much more exciting and more like a

CRAZY Adventure!

Where are you looking?

Everyone on this beautiful planet has issues.

Yes even you.

They have stuff they hold onto,

for SO many different reasons.

My Pastor has been challenging me to let GO!

I have baggage just like everyone else, which makes this hike even harder.

Life is like a very hard, beautiful, and rewarding hike in my eyes. 

Adventure around every corner(some times you need to open your eyes to it) and it gets intense sometimes.
You need your community to help encourage and push you through it and other times you are that encourager for others needing help on this hike.

On a hike you bring only the necessities not a duffel bag of useless items that just

make the hike that much harder!

That's what this baggage is in life, unnecessary items that you want to bring along for some weird, and sometimes twisted, reason.
You know they exist and don't want them but you don't 

want to let go cause then there is nothing to blame for your struggle but

the things that you need to fix or get rid of in your life.
The fault is on YOU.
Even if you were not the one to cause the event.

I took some pictures today that may help a little with illustrating how you look at life.

You are looking at the past in your mirror and around you as well but...

that's not enough you can't see where your stepping, you will fall

you will blame it on something in the past that caused you to fall this way.

Or
You are too busy looking at how dirty you are and what you have done in the past to even let your eyes be on the present or future.  

You ask yourself "how can life even go on normally, I have messed up too much, for any human or even God to love me."

You are too focused on yourself.

And then there is the mindset of trying to look into the future but its really blurry.

You look into the past but someone has really done something to hurt you. 

So life looks messy and confusing and extremely hard to even go anywhere you can't

look back or forward. 

You are damaged.

It probably wasn't your fault but for some reason you can't let go of it or that person that hurt you.

LIFE IS JUST TO MESSY.

Why am I talking about this?
Is there hope for us dirty, selfish, and dwellers of the past?

I say YES!
Yes there is indeed!
God tells us to draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

The best way I know how to draw near to Him is to explore and get to know who He is...
how do I do that?
I explore His WILD side : D
 Look at Him and He will put you where you need to be and heal the past.
This isn't always easy,
sometimes the hurt you have had
(caused by you or someone else)
has closed but there is bad stuff underneath,
meaning it has to be reopened to finally clean and heal correctly.

There should be no mirror except for the one you look in to see if you look like Christ.
If you don't look like Him keep asking Him to change that,
then be ready.
Ready to start the healing
and
LIVING.

Leave your bags and luggage at your temporary home
and
live with passion and vigor to fight to get to the top of the mountain.

Leave it at His feet and depend on Him and only
HIM
to fix it.

There is a lot more levels to this whole concept that I do not know/understand.
If you have questions about what I said feel free to ask me!

24/7 Hour Survival

Friday the 16th of April I embarked on a survival trip with two other gals that I hadn't met till the day before.  There were two groups of two men and one man alone. It was great that afternoon, all three of us gals were having fun creating our little living area. We were typical women and redesigned it twice  : ) We got a little nap and reading time in before the sun had set.  One of the "rules" for this adventure was no food...ok well actually we were allowed to bring  one piece of hard candy : ) We were starting our fire when the one man that was staying alone came by to check up on everyone. Us gals had matches but we wanted to start it with the magnesium and flint strip...well Taylor ended up starting it because him and I were both trying at the same time and He got it first! Us gals all know how to build a fire so we were not to worried about us not starting our own fire.  For a bit we were alone then two of the guys came over to see if they could have some of our rationed duck tape. We said no since we were supposed to be surviving : D Welllll when they decided to leave us girls,we decided to get into our beautiful bed we had made from pine needles and 2 emergency blankets.  We had another emergency blanket behind our heads in a wall form between two trees and a pretty massive fire at our feet. Not even a minute after laying down we heard a noise...I was up with my rifle and the other two girls up with the flash light and whistle.  We decided it was probably nothing but we also realized there would be no sleeping that night!

Through out the night we took "naps"...one person would lay down and sleep as long as possible and then the next person got to go and then the next...ALL NIGHT LONG!

That was just the worst standing and falling asleep, we kept look out for any animals wanting 3 college girls for food that night, and tried to catch each other from falling into the fire.

So your asking yourself "WHY ON EARTH DID SHE DO THIS!"

GREAT question, really!!! I was asking myself that question the whole NIGHT!

Well what did I learn! 

1. I appreciate men SO much more. All three of us decided that if we had even had one man there we would have had a much more peaceful night.  God has designed it this way, we are supposed to complement each other and we didn't have that man speaking rational thoughts into our minds. Instead we all had minds racing a million miles a minute of the worse case scenario.  

2. How much I hate the dark was amplified by a million that night.  Even with my MAC (my Marlin 30-30, yes it has a name) and KNOWING that God was in control of all I was so afraid of not being able to see. There are so many areas I can apply this too in my life. Like the dark being my future and even while talking about this trip at lunch today, the further you step away from the fire the colder and darker it gets. The closer you are to it the warmer you are and you can see all you really need to see!

3. God has been speaking and almost yelling the word STOP into my life as of recently.  It seems like every time I go to some type of Church or Bible Study the word STOP comes up.  I have a strong feeling God is saying that to me.  My mind as a woman goes a million miles a minute.  And being out in the wilderness made me think of so many things that have been bogging my mind down even more.  And then not doing anything but thinking the whole night and morning it was a PERFECT opportunity to apply the word STOP in my life. I didn't really get it down that night but the next day made it that much easier.  It was a Harsh and Uncomfortable battle...I'm glad now that I went through it.

4. The last thing I learned is our trust for day light to come.  All three of us gals KNEW for a fact that there would be sunlight at 5:30 that morning. We just had to make it to those blessed digits! But technically there was no sunlight to really look forward too.  Only if God had willed it would it rise.  How often do we not trust God with the simple and big things in life.  We trust Him when we absolutely need Him, like us gals feeling helpless and scared but when it comes to other areas in our life do we even consider giving Him full reign in our life? I know I don't as you can tell from #3 and not being able to just STOP and Listen to God and what He wants to say and do in my life. 

I know this is a lot to read and to think about but I want you to be so close to God, I am not there yet but I will keep striving to be there, the journey is hard, sometimes scary, and has it's ups and downs. But you know what??? 

It is sweet.

beautiful.

consuming.

worth it.

my obsession.

I want you to experience these, challenge yourself ask God what needs to change then STOP and LISTEN. 

This is one of the single most hard things to do in life. 

Endure and it will be a very worth it Journey/Adventure.

 This is not a picture of where we were at but it definitely portrays light and dark.

2 Beautiful Women & 1 little Girl

So I got the privilege to go and take pictures of 2 beautiful women 

and 1 adorable baby in the last couple of months.

The first one is an amazing young lady

Haley Giboney.

She is a graduating senior that is devoted to her Savior and wherever He calls her.

The second young woman is

Michelle Tuell.

She is going to be playing 13 hours a day for 6 days a week in The Academy.

The adorable baby is my niece,

Annabelle Marie.

She got two Easter dresses from her Grandma and Great Grandma,

and well...photos are needed right???

After each photo sessions I was just amazed at 2 things,

One at how BEAUTIFUL each girl is!

And Two just how much I can honor my God through picture taking!

I get to spend time in His creation while taking the photos

and then lots of time with Him while

I edit the photos!
Here are some selected photos from the 3 shoots: